From Jism to geopolitics: How John Abraham worked on building a cinematic legacy

When he got into movies it was all about ‘the body’ with films such as Jism and Dostana, says John Abraham disarmingly. Two decades later, he seems to have found quite another world with his almost nerdy interest in geopolitical issues.

The actor-filmmaker spends hours in making sure he's up with the news. And not surprisingly, the filmography has undergone a dramatic change. So, the list now includes films that marry commerce with stories about hot button issues and how they impact India, be it Madras Cafe, Parmanu, The Diplomat or his upcoming film, Tehran.

"It's important now to build a legacy around the kind of films I'm doing and to be known for them... Earlier, I didn't understand what the audience felt about me because we're insulated most of the times. But when I travel and meet people, they say, 'Oh, John we love The Diplomat. Oh, we love Madras Cafe.' That's when you realise you've slowly started creating a story for yourself," Abraham said in an interview.

When he did enter showbiz, however, it was all about Jism, he said, tongue firmly in cheek as he referred to his 2003 debut film, an erotic thriller.

"It was all about the body (then). And I didn't shy away from it. There's a huge audience that appreciates that. And I love it. But it was also very important for me to make a point. So, Kabul Express, New York, Madras Cafe and The Diplomat, these relevant films started coming in. But once I became a producer, I've gone full out."

Abraham's production house JA Entertainment began with Vicky Donor in 2012 for which it got the National Award. Then came Madras Cafe, Batla House and Attack and several others, many of which he acted in too.

Abraham said it is important to keep abreast of geopolitics because everything is connected.

"People say, 'what do we have to do with it? We only have to do with Pakistan'. That's not true. You need to understand what is happening in the geopolitics of the world to understand what is happening with India."

Tehran, a Maddock Films production that will start streaming on ZEE5 from August 14, is a fictionalised account of a true event that unfolds against the simmering global tension between Israel and Iran. It draws inspiration from the 2012 bomb explosion near the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi.

Directed by Arun Gopalan, the film features Abraham as ACP Rajeev Kumar, who is pulled into a covert operation that spans continents, ideologies, and fractured alliances.

The actor said while the Iran-Israel conflict makes his film topical, it also made its big screen release impossible, which is why he and producer Dinesh Vijan took "an informed decision" to release the film on ZEE5.

He calls Tehran, for which he learned the Persian and Hebrew, the first international film from India.

"You will see that a lot of Farsi is spoken in the film. My mother is Iranian. I learned the language for six months. There is a lot Hebrew in it so I also learned that," he said, giving the example of Ben Affleck's movie Argo.

"Like that movie, when I enter Tehran, I won't speak in Hindi. That'll look stupid... Farsi is not an easy language to learn. But it's a beautiful language. It sounds so musical and beautiful."

—PTI